1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to facilities management. More specifically, the present invention relates to provisioning wireless control systems for facilities management.
2. Description of Related Art
Various resources are provided to an area by facilities systems. Facilities systems may encompass lighting systems, HVAC systems, security systems, fire/safety systems, irrigation systems, agricultural wind systems, blind/louver systems, and the like. The area receiving the resources from facilities systems may include a building, a floor, a room, a group of buildings, etc. Depending on the area, the resources provided, and specific occupant requirements, such facilities systems may include multiple devices of various types. For example, a lighting system for a large building may include several types of lights in various configurations distributed throughout multiple rooms, on multiple floors, etc.
One possible way to manage a facilities system is to provide centralized control of all the devices in such a system. Centralization may allow an individual, such as a facilities manager, to control all the devices of the facilities system from one or a few control interfaces. For example, the facilities manager can turn on all of the lights and/or turn off all of the lights remotely and without having to physically flick each switch on and off in each room. Some disadvantages to a highly centralized control system may include implementation difficulties and inefficiencies. For example, it may be difficult and/or costly to retrofit a large area with a centralized control system.
Centralized control of a facilities system having multiple devices may also be complicated by various factors. For instance, some devices in the system may be subject to different demands than other devices in the system. Using the above example, the lighting system may need to provide more light in certain rooms that do not receive as much natural sunlight as other rooms. As such, high centralization may be inflexible to local conditions and unable to adapt to changing conditions. Further, high centralization may lead to waste. For example, using a highly centralized system to provide adequate resources to the rooms that require it may result in resources being sent to rooms that do not require the same amount of resources. Energy is wasted where resources are provided to areas that do not require such resources.
In contrast, a highly localized facilities control solution presents different disadvantages, such as in the ability to maintain and operate the facilities system. An example of a highly localized control solution is an individual light switch for a light or a group of lights in a particular location. Separate light switches may be distributed throughout a building, floor, etc., and each switch must be separately switched on for its associated device, or group of devices, to be activated. For some areas, this process may be extremely time-consuming. Additionally, separate switches may lead to energy waste when area occupants forget or neglect to switch off each individual switch.
A distributed wireless system may alleviate some of the problems of highly localized and highly centralized systems. One problem with implementing such a system, however, is that most buildings would need to be retrofitted for wireless control. Issues with retrofitting may include reluctance to change or lack of knowledge in implementing such a system. Further, rewiring and/or installing new systems may be costly and difficult to implement.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for improved provisioning for wireless control of facilities systems.